First Interstellar Guide Chapter 74: Mastermind

Chapter 74: Mastermind

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

Yu Ran had transported Lu Zexuan’s memories and knew how deep their brotherly bond had been. He felt immensely fortunate that he had preemptively blocked Lu Zexuan’s perception; at this moment, Lu Zexuan couldn’t see anything at all. Otherwise, if Lu Zexuan witnessed his most respected cousin in such a state, he would surely collapse. 

For years, he had been burdened with guilt for what happened to his elder cousin, believing him to be dead. Every year, he visited the Southern Mountain to sweep Lu Cheng’an’s grave. If he found out that his cousin was still alive but transformed into a distorted monster, tormented in a cage for years, how devastated would he be? Such an undignified existence was more sorrowful than a swift death.

In Lu Zexuan’s memories, his cousin had always been carefree, cheerful, and optimistic. Yu Ran couldn’t reconcile the grotesque creature before him with the spirited young general he had heard about. Moreover, how could Lu Zexuan face all of this? If he saw it, he would surely wish to kill the leader to vent his anger! But they couldn’t do that; the mastermind behind the scenes hadn’t revealed their true identity yet. They had to remain steady.

With Lu Zexuan’s vision shrouded in a white mist, he gazed blankly at the cage, showing no change in expression. But he sensed the turmoil of emotions in Yu Ran’s mind. Concerned, Lu Zexuan asked in his mind, “What’s happening?”

Yu Ran softly replied, “Nothing, I’ll handle it.”

Of course, Lu Zexuan trusted Ranran’s capabilities and said, “Okay, I’ll maintain this expression.”

Yu Ran had exceptional mental resilience and had undergone professional training in psychological endurance. He quickly adjusted his emotions and smiled, asking the distorted creature before him, “So, this is the S-grade distorted sentinel? Where did you capture it from?”

The mechanical voice slowly answered, “This was our first failed S-grade experiment. Interestingly, don’t you think he resembles Lu Zexuan next to you?”

Yu Ran glanced at Lu Zexuan beside him and said, “There’s some resemblance. Is he also from the Lu family?”

“He is Lu Zexuan’s cousin, Lu Cheng’an, the first Captain of the Eagle Special Forces.”

“Him?” Yu Ran raised his eyebrows in surprise. “No wonder he looks familiar. Lu Zexuan took me to sweep his grave before. I’ve seen his memorial… Isn’t he supposed to be dead?”

The mechanical voice explained, “Due to the immature drug formula back then, he suddenly went berserk during battle, his lower body was torn apart and fell into the beast horde, completely transforming into a monster. After distortion, the sentinel’s body merges with the spirit body. When we arrived, he had already turned into this human-headed, bird-bodied appearance, flying in the sky and driving away those monsters.” Recalling that scene, there was a hint of playfulness in the voice, “The combat power of S-grade sentinels is indeed formidable. Even after distortion, without consciousness, their attacking power is still quite terrifying. We spent a lot of effort to capture him and finally caught him with an oversized electromagnetic net.”

The cameras ahead continued flashing red lights. Every subtle expression and movement of Lu Zexuan and Yu Ran was captured by the person behind the scenes. Pausing for a moment, the voice looked again at Lu Zexuan. Lu Zexuan still showed no reaction, staring blankly at his cousin in the cage, without any change in expression. It seemed that this sentinel was truly under Yu Ran’s control?

The mechanical voice continued, “It’s a pity. If the experiment had succeeded, Lu Cheng’an would have been the sharpest tool in my hand. Now that we have controlled the younger cousin and have a better choice, there’s no need for the older cousin to continue living.”

Yu Ran’s heart sank. “You want to kill Lu Cheng’an?”

The mechanical voice emitted a pleased laugh. “How about letting your puppet do it? Let’s see if he listens to you.”

Yu Ran was speechless. So, this was the final test he mentioned—making Lu Zexuan personally kill his cousin. Such a cruel mental torment, it was beyond belief! If Lu Zexuan were a puppet, he would obediently kill the distorted sentinel in front of him without any emotion. But Lu Zexuan wasn’t a puppet. Only Yu Ran knew his deep respect and nostalgia for his cousin. Once he really killed him, how could he accept this fact?!

Yu Ran’s mind raced for a solution. Right, the physiological structure of distorted sentinels was different from humans. A golden eagle belonged to the raptor category. Now that Lu Cheng’an had become a human-headed, bird-bodied monster, his heart should be located where a bird’s heart typically was.

Yu Ran quickly drew a dissected diagram in his mind, clearly locating the golden eagle’s heart. Then, he shrugged nonchalantly and said to the camera, “Of course, Lu Zexuan will listen to me. But you have to open the cage first before I can let Lu Zexuan in to deal with this useless monster.”

The person on the other end pressed a button, and indeed, the iron door of the cage slowly opened before them.

Yu Ran patted Lu Zexuan’s shoulder and said, “Go, kill him.”

At the same time, Yu Ran rapidly conveyed in his mind, “They want you to kill someone. You must be precise and avoid injuring the heart. Follow my instructions: advance 10 meters, tilt the blade 15 degrees to the right, stab deeper, the more blood, the better!”

Lu Zexuan completely trusted Yu Ran’s judgment. Almost as soon as Yu Ran finished speaking, he darted forward like lightning, and the blade in his hand traced a perfect arc. The snowy-white blade flashed before their eyes, and Lu Zexuan, decisive and swift, stabbed directly into the chest of the golden eagle!

The stab almost pierced the opponent’s body directly! As the blade was pulled out, thick blood gushed out, staining Lu Zexuan’s face crimson.

Lu Zexuan’s expression remained unchanged. After efficiently dealing with the opponent, he returned to Yu Ran’s side, bowed his head, and said, “Master, the mission is complete.”

Yu Ran encouraged him with a smile, gently patting his head. “You did well.”

Lu Zexuan returned the electromagnetic knife to its sheath at his waist and continued to stand expressionlessly beside Yu Ran, like an obedient bodyguard.

Inside the cage, the golden eagle let out a painful roar, and bright red blood flowed continuously from its chest. Then, as if finally relieved, it lowered its head slowly and closed its eyes.

Clap, clap, clap. Applause sounded from behind.

Yu Ran turned his head and saw an old man with graying hair walking towards them with a smiling face from the end of the corridor.

Yu Ran was speechless. It was Professor Morvi from the Central Federation Academy of Sciences. The kind old man who encouraged junior guides not to give up at the opening ceremony of the Sanctuary; the respected scientist who created the regeneration therapy and was admired by many—father’s most respected teacher!

Yu Ran had often seen him when he was young because his father was his most esteemed disciple. Sometimes, when his father worked overtime at the academy on weekends, he would take Yu Ran to play in the laboratory.

Professor Morvi loved to give candies to the young him, patting his head with a smile and saying, “Good boy, Daddy will be busy with experiments. You play here by yourself and don’t run around.”

Yu Ran obediently nodded. “Okay, Grandpa.”

Later, when Yu Ran graduated from the Sanctuary at the age of 13, it was Morvi, along with his father and Director Xie from the guide academy, who sealed him together. At this moment, seeing the kind old man walking towards him with a smile, Yu Ran felt chills running down his spine. Did his father already suspect that Professor Morvi’s research project was problematic, and that’s why he was tragically silenced?

This hypocrite! It was astonishing that so many guides in the Federation regarded him as their mentor and so many students viewed him as an inspirational figure. Unexpectedly, he was secretly conducting such inhumane research.

Morvi stopped in front of Yu Ran, and gently said, “Yu Ran, you are the most outstanding guide among the younger generation.” He glanced at Lu Zexuan, whose expression remained unchanged. Morvi smiled satisfactorily and said, “You did very well in this mission. With Lu Zexuan under our control, we can now completely control the Eagle Corps through him.”

Yu Ran had already anticipated who the boss behind the organization might be. Therefore, upon seeing Morvi, he wasn’t too shocked. He only showed a slight surprise, raised his eyebrows, and looked at the old man in front of him. “So, it’s you?”

Morvi replied, “Didn’t expect to see me here, did you?”

Yu Ran smiled and said, “I guessed that the leader of the organization must be someone significant, and I did consider that it might be you. After all, you are the most formidable scientist in the Federation, and some scientists’ ideas can indeed be quite crazy.”

Morvi defended himself, “This isn’t madness. My methods are merely a matter of natural selection. Sentinels with defective genes shouldn’t be alive in the first place. If one day, human society is composed entirely of guides and their obedient sentinel puppets, wouldn’t it be much more harmonious?”

Yu Ran thought for a moment and nodded. “That makes sense. Without the troubles caused by distorted sentinels, guides would have a much easier time. Moreover, every guide would have several obedient sentinel puppets—it’s quite interesting to be their master.”

Morvi looked at him approvingly. “You’re clever. You remind me of someone.”

In the next moment, he suddenly extended his blue mental tendrils, unexpectedly connecting to Yu Ran’s brain! The fierce blue seawater surged into the primeval forest like a tsunami, rapidly engulfing Yu Ran’s mental world. For the first time, Yu Ran felt such a terrifying mental energy shock. The opponent’s mental energy was like an immense ocean, boundless and inexhaustible.

The mantis inspection of Adeline siblings wouldn’t affect Yu Ran. But this sudden tsunami-like attack made Yu Ran’s brain ache sharply! Trees and flowers in the forest collapsed in large numbers, and the area flooded by seawater sent forth a strong chill.

The cold penetrated to the bone, and Yu Ran felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar—the water-type mental energy seemed gentle, but when attacking, it could quickly freeze the opponent’s mental world.

Yu Ran was having a hard time defending against such a brutal mental energy attack for the first time. This Professor Morvi’s mental energy was probably not just the rumored S+, had he reached SS level?

Water-type mental energy restrained the flames of the nine-tailed fox. Fortunately, no one knew that he also had a white fox. The forest-type restoration treatment and powerful vitality could accommodate all things.

On the surface, it seemed that the nine-tailed fox couldn’t resist the attack of seawater, and the surging seawater quickly flooded large areas of the forest! But in reality, the white fox had been rapidly expanding the territory of the forest where the opponent hadn’t reached.

Sensing Ranran being attacked, Lu Zexuan’s snowy mountain voluntarily dissipated at this moment. The continuously flowing snow water flowed down from the top of the snowy mountain, constantly nourishing Yu Ran’s mental world.

Morvi didn’t know that Yu Ran’s mental world contained not only this forest but also Lu Zexuan’s mental energy, protecting his guide! The two of them had already started a mental showdown. So, they were now in a 2V1 situation, with Yu Ran’s dual spirit body, making it effectively 3V1.

The surging seawater crazily spread within Yu Ran’s mental world, and Yu Ran knew what Morvi was looking for. Back when the three guides sealed Yu Ran together, they left some traces in Yu Ran’s mental world. He was looking for those traces.

Morvi had long harbored suspicions about Yu Ran’s identity. Fox-type spirit bodies weren’t uncommon, but the ferocious attack power of the flame fox reminded him of the genius child from back then. If he could find the traces of the joint seal in Yu Ran’s mental world, it would prove that Yu Ran’s identity was false.

However, despite Morvi’s thorough search, he found nothing. Yu Ran’s nine-tailed fox was forced to retreat step by step, seemingly no match for his opponent. After several minutes of continuous searching, Yu Ran’s forehead was covered in cold sweat. And by now, Morvi’s forehead was also sweating due to the extensive mental energy consumption.

Was he overthinking it? Was Yu Ran truly a child adopted and raised by star pirates? Had nothing to do with Xie Ran? The mental world of an S-rank guide was extremely vast. Morvi searched everywhere he could think of, but found nothing amiss about the seal on Xie Ran’s mental energy.

After a long while, Morvi finally stopped. Seeing Yu Ran’s pale face, he smiled and patted Yu Ran’s shoulder. “Did I scare you? But it’s the organization’s rule. I personally inspect every high-ranking member who joins the organization.”

Rubbing his throbbing head, Yu Ran respectfully said, “Your mental energy is too strong. I was indeed startled. I even thought you were going to kill me.”

In the mental world, the hidden White Eagle and white fox finally breathed a sigh of relief. Morvi’s mental energy was indeed terrifying. Just now, the surging seawater almost reached the edge of the snowy mountain. Fortunately, Yu Ran had the nine-tailed fox hold him back, consuming his mental energy and preventing Morvi from continuing the search for a long time. Finally, he stopped.

He would never have thought that the young man in front of him had mental energy stronger than his own. In the depths of the mental landscape, there was an S-rank sentinel guarding the territory. The power of the merged snowy mountain and forest was something his ocean couldn’t completely swallow! What he didn’t know was that Yu Ran’s mental landscape had already been destroyed and rebuilt. Therefore, the traces of the seal from back then had long disappeared.

Morvi finally relaxed, smiling and saying, “How could I bear to kill you? Congratulations on passing the final test. From today onwards, you are my trusted assistant. I hope we can work together to make outstanding contributions to the evolution of humanity.”

Yu Ran looked at him sincerely, “Thank you for your trust. I will not let you down.”